Deal To Keep Raiders In Oakland For 2019 Set For Friday Vote
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A lease agreement to keep the Raiders in Oakland for at least one more season is coming to a vote this Friday, according to officials.
The Coliseum Authority scheduled a vote for Friday on a lease with the Raiders for 2019 with an option for 2020. The deal also must be approved by the Oakland City Council and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors but no hang-ups are expected after the Raiders and the Coliseum Authority worked out their last remaining issues this week.
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The Raiders will pay $7.5 million in rent for 2019 and have a $10.5 million option for 2020 in case their new $1.8 billion, 65,000-seat stadium in Las Vegas isn't ready by then.
Last week, officials said talks between the board and team representatives were moving forward, but a major glitch that officials could not discuss was threatening to sink the whole deal.
While no one would confirm what exactly the sticking point was, sources said the issue was who would cover the expenses of the Raider's headquarters in Alameda for the one to two years of the new lease.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said she is encouraged by how the talks are going.
"The city is done subsidizing this team. We have to make a profit if they're going to stay," said Schaaf. "That's true for the county. For too long, the shakedown of the billionaire boys club has been going on and we are committing to stopping that."
Schaaf told KPIX a week ago that the negotiations won't change the status of the antitrust lawsuit against the team and the NFL for what she calls "the wrongful relocation" of the Raiders to Las Vegas.
Officials have said the lawsuit was not an issue in the talks.
Barring any setbacks in Las Vegas, this likely will be the Raiders' final season in Oakland after moving back from Los Angeles in 1995. The Raiders began playing at the Coliseum in 1966 and were there through the 1981 season before going to Southern California.
The Raiders had pulled out of lease extension talks after Oakland sued the Raiders and the NFL over the planned move to Las Vegas. But with the team planning to practice at its facility in Alameda in 2019, staying in the Bay Area was always the top priority.
The Raiders had talks about sharing a stadium with the San Francisco Giants, but that was opposed by the 49ers. The Raiders also could have looked into sharing Levi's Stadium with the 49ers, although owner Mark Davis was opposed to that option.
The NFL needed to get a final answer on where the Raiders will play this season in order to put together the 2019 schedule, which is expected to be released in April.
© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
